Market gains aid Charles Stanley’s pandemic recovery
Wealth manager Charles Stanley benefited from the strong markets seen at the end of last year, adding more than £2bn to its assets.
In a third-quarter trading update, the London-listed firm reported that net inflows had increased just £0.1bn. But market improvements helped drive a more than £2bn growth in its overall assets, to £25.1bn in the quarter.
Revenues in the period remained stable at £42.2m, while total revenues for the year to 31 December declined from £128.1m to £124.1m.
Charles Stanley said this was largely due to the 65 per cent drop in interest turn following the fall in interest rates last March. The decline was partially offset by a 3.2 per cent increase in fee income and 4.3 per cent rise in commission income.
It represents a marked improvement on the rest of the year, which saw group revenue fall 4.1 per cent over the first half to £82m, after a 6.8 per cent drop in the second quarter.
In the third quarter Charles Stanley’s investment management services arm generated £37.3m in revenue, slightly down on the previous year. Both its financial planning and Charles Stanley Direct divisions saw revenue tick up from £2.2m each to £2.5m and £2.4m respectively.
“The group has continued to demonstrate significant resilience in the face of the ongoing pandemic and we are encouraged to see modest net inflows of FUMA during the third quarter as well as stable revenue levels,” said chief executive Paul Abberley.
“Whilst uncertainty remains over the length of current market disruption as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are confident that we will continue to make progress in the final quarter of our financial year.”
Shares are trading up more than six per cent.